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Explanations for moving crypto between networks, grouped by topic. Live fees and routes are in the comparison tool, not in the articles.
Bridges
- What is a crypto bridge? How bridges move value between blockchains — What a bridge in crypto is, the three ways bridges move tokens from one blockchain to another, and what you are trusting when you use one.
- MetaMask bridge: how bridging works inside MetaMask Swaps — In MetaMask, bridging runs through the Swap button, which gathers quotes from bridges and aggregators. What MetaMask does and does not do, how the fee is made up, and what to check when tokens arrive.
- Testnet bridges: getting Sepolia ETH onto Arbitrum, OP and Mantle testnets — What a testnet bridge is for, why testnet funds are not priced here, and what Arbitrum, Optimism and Mantle document for moving test funds from Ethereum Sepolia — or getting them without a bridge.
- Polygon zkEVM bridge: the network is shut down — how funds are recovered — Polygon zkEVM Mainnet Beta no longer produces blocks and its bridge no longer processes withdrawals. What the Claims interface recovers, until when, and what it cannot recover.
- How to move crypto between networks: bridge, exchange or cross-chain swap — The three ways to get crypto from one blockchain to another, what a bridge transfer asks of you step by step, and what decides which route costs less at the moment you send.
Wallets
- How to add a network to your crypto wallet: MetaMask, Trust Wallet and Phantom — What adding a network to a wallet does and does not do, how MetaMask, Trust Wallet and Phantom each handle it, and why a token still has to be added separately.
Tokens and networks
- USDC across networks: native USDC, bridged USDC.e and Circle's CCTP — Why USDC on one network is a separate contract from USDC on another, how native USDC differs from bridged versions such as USDC.e and USDbC, and what Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol does.
- How to convert ERC-20, TRC-20 and BEP-20 in Trust Wallet or on Binance — Why nothing actually converts one token standard into another, what Trust Wallet's swap and a Binance deposit and withdrawal really do, and what ETH BEP-20 is.
Exchanges and withdrawals
- How to move crypto from an exchange to your own wallet — What changes when crypto leaves an exchange for a wallet you control, how the withdrawal works, and what a hardware wallet adds — the facts, not a recommendation.
- How to send USDT from Binance to another wallet — How a USDT withdrawal from Binance works, why the network you pick decides whether the money arrives, and what Binance says it cannot recover.
- How to send USDT from MetaMask or Trust Wallet to Binance — A deposit to Binance is decided on Binance's screen before you send: the matching network, the coin that pays the fee, memos, and what Binance says it can and cannot recover.
Common mistakes
- Sent crypto to the wrong network or address: what can and cannot be recovered — Four cases — your own address on another network, a wallet that does not support the network, an exchange deposit, and someone else's address — and what each wallet or exchange says can still be done.
- Stuck or pending transaction in MetaMask: speed up, cancel or wait — Why a transaction sits on pending, what MetaMask's speed up and cancel actually do, why the oldest pending transaction has to be dealt with first, and why resetting the account is not the fix.
Security and scams
- Wallet drainers: how crypto wallets get emptied and what to do if yours was — The two ways a wallet drainer takes funds — a stolen recovery phrase or a malicious approval — the signs, the steps MetaMask gives for a compromised wallet, and why nobody can reverse the transfers.
- Fake USDT: how to tell real Tether from a look-alike token — Why a fake token can carry the USDT name and even show USDT's price in a wallet, why only the contract address settles it, and the addresses Tether itself publishes.
- Token approvals: what they are, how to check them and how to revoke them — What a token approval lets an app do with your tokens, why unlimited approvals are the risk, and how to review and revoke them with Etherscan, MetaMask and the tools ethereum.org lists.
- Address poisoning: the look-alike address scam and how to avoid it — How address poisoning plants a look-alike address in your transaction history, why it works on anyone who checks only the start and end of an address, and the habits and wallet warnings that stop it.
USDT networks
- USDT networks — USDT withdrawal fees on major exchanges for each network, and live bridge quotes for moving USDT between networks.
- USDT on TRON (TRC-20) — What TRC-20 USDT is, why a fresh TRON address has to be activated before it can hold anything, and what a transfer there actually spends.
- USDT on TON — Tether issues USDT on TON, but none of the bridges we compare reaches it. What that leaves you with, and what makes TON addresses and deposits different.
- USDT on BNB Smart Chain (BEP-20) — What the BEP-20 standard is, the one thing about USDT on BNB Smart Chain that differs from every other network, and what we could not confirm about it.
- USDT on Polygon — What USDT on Polygon is, why a wallet may show it as USDT0, what pays for a transfer there, and what leaving for Ethereum involves.
- USDT TRC-20 vs ERC-20 vs BEP-20 — The same USDT on three networks: what TRC-20, ERC-20 and BEP-20 actually change, and how to move a balance from one to another.
Risk: Crypto assets are volatile, and transfers between networks can fail or lose funds. Quotes can change before you confirm. Nothing here is financial advice.
Disclosure: We earn a fee when you bridge through this site and may earn from exchange referral links. Routes are ordered by total cost, not by what we earn. Full disclaimer